Konami · 1986–1999 · Gothic Horror

CASTLEVANIA

“Enter Dracula’s castle. Whip. Survive. Repeat.”

Original Castlevania NES gameplay - Simon Belmont in Dracula's castle Super Castlevania IV SNES gameplay - Simon with 8-directional whip Castlevania Symphony of the Night - Alucard exploring the castle Castlevania Bloodlines Mega Drive - John Morris in Europe

Dracula’s Castle Awaits

Castlevania — known in Japan as Akumajô Dracula (“Devil’s Castle Dracula”) — is Konami’s gothic action platformer series spanning from 1986 to the modern era. For 15 years on classic hardware it defined how video games could evoke atmosphere through tight gameplay and unforgettable music. Few series have so thoroughly colonised the pop-culture imagination of an entire generation of players.

From Simon Belmont’s first whip crack in 1986 to Alucard’s labyrinthine castle in Symphony of the Night (1997), Castlevania explored gothic horror, European mythology, and the very limits of the hardware it ran on. The series birthed an entire genre — the “Metroidvania” — and produced some of the finest music ever composed for a video game.

Series Retrospective

Slope’s Game Room 2023 documentary — the complete Castlevania history.